A.O. Smith Corp. (NYSE:AOS) – Analysts at Northcoast Research upped their FY2016 EPS estimates for A.O. Smith Corp. in a research report issued on Wednesday. Northcoast Research analyst A. Cohen now forecasts that the firm will earn $3.71 per share for the year, up from their previous forecast of $3.69.
A.O. Smith Corp. (NYSE:AOS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 26th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.08. The firm earned $667 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $696.69 million. The business’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.79 EPS.
Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on AOS. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of A.O. Smith Corp. in a research report on Tuesday, April 5th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $90.00 price objective on the stock. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $88.00 price target on shares of A.O. Smith Corp. in a research report on Friday, April 8th. Zacks Investment Research cut shares of A.O. Smith Corp. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, April 18th. Sterne Agee CRT reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of A.O. Smith Corp. in a research report on Monday, May 16th. Finally, Longbow Research began coverage on shares of A.O. Smith Corp. in a research report on Friday, June 17th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. The company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.43.
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 29th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 27th.
In related news, CEO Ajita G. Rajendra sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.74, for a total value of $1,654,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 150,185 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,426,306.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Robert J. Heideman sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.93, for a total value of $923,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 23,806 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,831,395.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.
A. O. Smith Corporation operates its business through two segments, which include North America and Rest of World. The Company’s Rest of World segment primarily comprises China, Europe and India. The Rest of World segment supplies water heaters to the residential market in China with a range of product offering, including electric, gas, gas tankless, heat pump and solar units, as well as combi boilers.
